What are common names ? Give the advantages and disadvantages of common names.

Explanation

Common names are local names which are given to organisms in a particular region in local language. Common names have both advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages : We prefer common names because of following advantages:
i) Common names are short. Example : Onion (pyaz).
ii) They are based on some different features of the organisms. Example : chirya (Esparrow, after chirping).
iii) Natives become familiar with these names since childhood.
iv) Pronunciation of common names is easy by the natives.
Disadvantages : Biologists do not go for common names because of the following disadvantages.
i) More than one organism may have single common name.
ii) Common name may have different meanings in different areas.
iii) Common names.may be false. Example: a number of animals are called fish, though they have no relation with fish.
iv) There is no use of common names in scientific studies as they vary from region to region and language to language.
v) There is no uniformity in common names.